1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle front structure.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a known technique for absorbing a collision load in the event of a front end collision of a vehicle. According to the technique, a pair of right and left front side members extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is disposed in the front part of the vehicle, and crash boxes are disposed at the front ends of the front side members. In the event of a front end collision, the front side members and the crash boxes are compressed or deformed in the vehicle front-rear direction, thereby absorbing a collision load.
In some cases, however, a colliding object collides with only a portion of the front part of the vehicle in the vehicle-width direction instead of colliding with the entirety of the front part of the vehicle (i.e., a frontal offset collision occurs). Especially in the event of a collision with a small amount of overlap between a colliding object and the vehicle in the vehicle-width direction (i.e., a small overlap collision), a collision load is input mainly into a portion of the front part located on the outside of the front side member in the vehicle-width direction, in the vehicle front structure configured as described above. Thus, the collision load is not sufficiently absorbed in the front part of the vehicle.
In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-212757 (JP 2013-212757 A) describes a vehicle front structure provided with members that protrude from front side members outward in the vehicle-width direction to receive collision loads input from ahead of a vehicle. Thus, even when a small overlap collision occurs, it is possible to absorb a collision load input from ahead of the vehicle, by transmitting the collision load to the front side members or by deforming the front side members. Note that, not only JP 2013-212757 A but also Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-132122 (JP 2010-132122 A) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-137373 (JP 2006-137373 A) describe a vehicle front structure provided with members disposed on the outer sides of front side members in the vehicle-width direction to receive collision loads.
According in particular to JP 2013-212757 A and JP 2010-132122 A, a collision load applied to the front part of the vehicle in the event of an offset collision is transmitted to the front side members from the members attached to the outer sides of the front side members in the vehicle-width direction to deform the front side members, so that the collision load is absorbed through the deformation of the front side members.